Articles

Hot Tub Retail Stars 

Alex Nemet, owner of Northeast Factory Direct and an extreme desert marathon runner, would never have imagined that this year would be his most successful yet; his hot tub sales are up almost 60 percent. Nemet says the important thing is investing in your customers and not a fancy showroom.

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK ATTITUDE IS WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SUCCESS?
Your brain automatically picks up on all those negative things subconsciously, [and then] you start looking for it. I don’t even open a newspaper or turn on the news anymore. All I want to hear about is positive things. You have to get lean and take care of your customers and just have a good attitude. [Sometimes] it gets so slow that when that person comes in, people jump all over them. You’ve got to act like you’ve already sold ten hot tubs that day and [think about] what I can do to help that  customer. Acting as if that customer was their grandmother going out to buy a hot tub and really holding their hand  and taking them through the entire process from their [the customer’s] perspective and finding out what’s good for them, they’re always going to buy. People sense whether you’re trying to help them or whether you’re trying to help yourself.
 
Make salesmen read something positive. Every morning take a half hour to read something positive or motivational,  bettering your craft as a salesperson. I’m doing tent sales and I’m doing home shows. We belong to networking groups.  We do things out of the norm: we don’t do a lot of advertising and when somebody does give us a referral, we thank them.
 
WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR SALES ARE UP?
I do whatever I can and give the tools that I can to help my sales staff. I support the sales staff, they support the customers and the customers support the business. We’re just working harder, that’s really what it comes down to. We’re working harder to help all of our customers. We’re working twice as hard for the same amount of business as a couple years ago, and when the economy turns around we’ll be stronger.
 
You can’t just wait in your store and wait for people to come in when it’s like this. We’ve built relationships outside  of the business with landscapers that refer us, and they’re  basically strategic partnerships. Also with chiropractors, we’ve been trying to build strategic relationships with them. I’m not just going to place a $3,000 full-page ad in the paper. I’m a couple of those away from being in big trouble.

Invent, Reinvent and Repeat

UNAFRAID OF CHANGE, ALEX NEMET HAS SEEN HIS BUSINESS AND THE PRODUCTS HE CARRIES GROW.

You often hear in the hot tub industry about how a retailer got started in their garage. Well, Alex Nemet proves that this industry isn’t alone in stories of humble beginnings. Nemet started selling furniture out of his roommates garage using a few thousand dollars he cashed out of his 401K. Now he runs his business out of a 30,000 square foot warehouse and sells everything from furniture to kitchen cabinets to hot tubs.
Nemet says that you can’t be afraid to work hard and constantly reinvent your store. He switches out products that aren’t selling and moves on to something new. Although, with a business that is driven by referrals, “I’ve got to keep it all in stock.”

But the beauty of having lots of products that are always revolving, you draw in a variety of people.
“A sale is a sale whatever it is you’re selling,” Nemet says. “But what’s made us successful is, I have so many different types of people coming through my door that may not even be looking for hot tubs. They buy kitchen cabinets and they’re like, ‘Oh you sell hot tubs,’ and we start talking about hot tubs.”
Even with the huge range of products, Nemet still has goals for each category.

“My goal is 300 spas a year,” he says. And in order to reach that goal, he is planning on increasing the store’s advertising. “Everybody is cutting, cutting, cutting and I did that for a little while. You’re just going to cut your way out of business.”

“If you’re not growing you’re dying,” Nemet says. “That’s really what it comes down to.”

OPINIONS: Positive Attitudes Make More Money 

UNAFRAID OF CHANGE, ALEX NEMET HAS SEEN HIS BUSINESS AND THE PRODUCTS HE CARRIES GROW.

It’s easy to fall into a trap, especially when things start to get a little bit slower and you’re not as excited and pumped-up about selling the product as you are when things are really busy. You’ve got to try and maintain that [attitude] because when you’re excited about the product and when you’re able to show that enthusiasm to your customers, they respond better."
- Gord Coy, Owner, Arctic Spas Durham,
Whitby, Ontario, Canada

"What I see sometimes is their [retailer’s] attitude slows them a little. In tougher times, typically you have to work harder. And in a lot of cases, it takes more energy to be out there and just make things happen in the quieter times."
- Ross McCall, Owner, Beachcomber Hot Tubs London, London, Ontario, Canada

"Your brain automatically picks up on all those negative things subconsciously, then you start looking for it. I don’t even open a newspaper or turn on the news anymore. All I want to hear about is positive things. Make your salesmen read something positive. Every morning take half an hour to read something positive or motivational,bettering your craft as a salesperson."
- Alex Nemet, Owner, Northeast Factory Direct, Cleveland, Ohio

"It’s [attitude] nearly critical because anywhere you turn, the media is doing a wonderful job of scaring the general public about various issues in the news. So it’s easy to become very concerned and very conservative. You just can’t let that feeling permeate your organization. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy that your salespeople, your service team and everybody are going to become less confident and that will play-out in your customer’s mind. What we need to do during times like this is be excited about our product. Remember that we’re still selling a product to customers that will make their life better and actually have the reverse effect to all the negativity and provide some enjoyment and fulfillment in life."
- Rob Carter, General Manager, Premier Backyard, Tucson, Arizona

"I think it’s THE crucial thing. I think if you decide the market’s down and that’s how it’s going to be for you, then it probably will be. If you decide that people aren’t walking in the door and you should go do something about it, then you do and it pays off. When it got slow for us, we stepped up our marketing and got more creative with it, and I think we’re at least holding our own and taking bits of other peoples’ market share."
- Shawn Maynard, Owner, Bullfrog Spas of Ogden, Ogden, Utah

Change your attitude, change your outlook, make a positive change for your business.
Business will inevitably go up and down, but your attitude can hold steady. Read on as
successful retailers explain how they maintain a good attitude and how that attitude
has helped them maintain sales.